Simple question - How do you guys transfer you photos from the camera to the computer?

I've always use a USB cable, but have recently switched over to taking out the memory card and putting it straight in the computer (new iMac). It seems to be faster, but does it harm the camera or card or contacts keep taking it out and putting the card back in ???

Thanks.

I've been removing my cards to load photos into my computer for 20 months now with no ill effects.

Charles

I've been transferring via removing the card from camera, popping it into the computer - for, oh, I don't know how long, 3+ years on a regular basis maybe.

In that time, I had one no-name card that I put to heavy use, and managed to eventually split the plastic casing down a weld seam. But that took something like a year of near daily swapping, and, I think I paid a whopping $3.99 for that card.

I've had no problems with name brand cards.

I've never had a problem with the computer or camera contacts.

I have always used an external card reader rather than plugging a cable directly into the camera. I could be wrong, but I think the contacts on SD cards are less susceptible to problems than the pin type contacts on CF cards.

Rocky

Like the others, I pull the cards out of my cameras to copy the photos to the computer. I reformat the card in the camera after the transfer.

>Simple question - How do you guys transfer you photos from
>the camera to the computer?

When a card is full from some outing I slide the write protect tab into the write-protected position and put the card in its small plastic case and into my camera bag. When back at my home office I insert cards one by one into a card reader on my PC and import via Lightroom 4.

>but does it harm
>the camera or card or contacts keep taking it out and putting
>the card back in ???

I doubt very much that will happen. And your camera's USB port is quite robust too. In fact, I would think no use of a contact might lead to a slightly higher probability of poor contact due to oxidation and dirt build-up.

Peter

I use an external card reader.
Faster than the camera via USB.
No drivers needed for the computer to see the camera.
Does not drain the camera battery.

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Joseph K
Seattle, WA, USA

D700, D200, D70S, 24-70mm f/2.8, VR 70-200mm f/2.8 II, 50mm f/1.4 D,
17-55mm f/2.8 DX, 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR, 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5 DX

When I lived in the D70 forum there were a few reports of pins getting bent in the camera's card slot like Rocky said. Personally I never had a problem. With SD cards there are no pins to bend so you can't hurt anything.

Gary
"Yea, Sussex by the sea!" - Rudyard Kipling

I've been removing the CF or SD cards for years (at least 10), & it has never caused a problem.

I really don't like having to take my camera to the PC, where it (&lens, etc.) is put at a lot more risk than removing the card & uploading the photos at a much faster rate. i'd rather lose the card than the camera.

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The cards are sometimes a little tough (not bad) and do require a firm grip with the fingers and pull to get them out. It this normal? The seem to be a bit smoother the more I use. Just expected them to be a bit easier, but I guess that is the mechanisium so that they dont accidentally fall out?

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>The cards are sometimes a little tough (not bad) and do
>require a firm grip with the fingers and pull to get them out.
>It this normal?

I assume you mean taking the cards out of the camera. If so I noticed that taking the card out of slot 2 on my camera is quite a bit stiffer than slot 1. But I have not noticed or experienced any problems.

I also have made it a practice since aquiring my first digital camear to use a card reader rather than connect the cameras to the computer. And in about the 10 years of doing so have not had any issues doing so.

Pete

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Hi,
That sounds really odd to me!

Are you, perchance, trying to pull out SD cards? If so, you should really be pushing them IN slightly - and they will pop out on a spring latch. For CF cards, there are ejector "buttons".

If you happen to have a D4, the XQD cards are removed like SD cards, by first pushing them IN.

Personally, I've never had any camera which required me to pull out memory cards!

I hope this helps a little,

Pete

Yes I know you need to push in first, but they still require a firm pinch to get them out. As the person before also states. I actually went in to a store and tried another demo D7000 and it was the same. A bit easier, but had been used a lot.

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I either use an external reader or the SD card slot on my iMac. I always copy the files onto the hard drive, do a rough cull with ViewNX, then backup the RAW files onto DVD. Then import into Aperture, copying the originals into the Library. I wait until my daily backup has run(so I have 2 copies of the library, plus DVDs of the original RAW files).

FWIW, I always reformat the card in the camera-not on the computer.

I've never(touch wood) lost anything and only once had to reimport the RAW files when I mistakenly erased a load of photos.


res ipsa loquitur

I used to do wedding photography and was very networked with tons of wedding photographers. We ALL pulled out our cards and put them into a card reader (and if you think about, we usually had multiple cards for a wedding so it wasn't like we didn't have to pull them out anyway).

Also, if memory serves me correctly, you can't just plug your D7000 into your computer and then use Lightroom, Aperture, or something else to import. I think the only thing that will read the card while it is in the camera is the Nikon software.

Mike

Thom Hogan addressed this issue in his D7000 book. He said that transferring images directly from the camera to a PC uses much more battery power than taking a photo does.

He advises using a card reader. When i am in a hurry, I just open the Disk Ikon from the SD card and drag the files over a folder on the desktop. Later, I can use image software to rename files from the standard "DSC######" and do some retouching.

I wondered why I had to recharge the battery so often. Now I know.

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>Thom Hogan addressed this issue in his D7000 book. He said
>that transferring images directly from the camera to a PC uses
>much more battery power than taking a photo does.

I've heard that too. But I wonder, is the added battery consumption really that significant? I can't imagining it taking more than a few minutes to transfer the data. Does the battery drop a lot in those few minutes? I haven't tried it... just looking for a quantified view of this.

Cheers,
Peter

I posted a similar question back a number of months ago after reading that you were "never" to use a usb cable. The consensus of thoughts were that using the card is the way to go from a speed and convenience perspective. Since then I've been using either a portable card reader of the reader built into my computer. It, using the card reader, has worked flawlessly.

Tom

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I have recently become a Eye-Fi fan. Withe the Direct Transfer mode, pictures are transferred from camera to my tablet in near real time. JPGs transfer almost as fast to my PC when I get near my home wifi.

RAW, not so much. In direct, RAW is nearly as fast as JPEG, which makes sense since RAW are so much larger files. But wifi transfer from the tablet to the PC is very very very slow, so I wait until I get to may desk and place the SD directly into the PC to import to Lightroom.

I've been using the card swap method for years and several cameras with no problems.


John Messeder, JAFPR, MBS
Freelance environmental journalist
Gettysburg, PA, USA
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I've always removed the cards from the camera. When I had a PC I used card readers and have been using a Mac since '06. I used to have a D200 and still needed the card reader for CF cards but my new iMac (2011) has a built-in SD card reader and since upgrading to the D7000 that's what I've used.

I use Lexar cards and have never had any issues with card failure.

Fred

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